To Walk and Dance
by Rosa Cotton
Summary: Colin does some thinking and watches Dickon and Mary. [Based on the 1987 Hallmark version.]


Disclaimer: _The Secret Garden_, all characters, places, and related terms belong to Frances Hodgson Burnett and Hallmark.

Author's Note: I saw the 1987 Hallmark version last week (it was pretty good, though it was darker than I expected, and I didn't care for the epilogue at all; it was amusing how Dickon and Colin towered over Mary however) and got inspired. This is my first Secret Garden piece, and would greatly appreciate feedback.

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To Walk and Dance

Dickon forces Mary to back up along the small dock, their sticks hitting each other in a mock duel. Colin laughs as Mary jumps off the dock and runs away, followed closely by Dickon brandishing his "sword." The younger boy twists around slightly in his chair to follow his friends' race across the lawn. He can hear Mary's shrieks as she dashes this way and that and Dickon's amused laughter as he steadily gains on her with his long legs.

Colin's smile slowly fades as he watches the two. They look like they are having so much fun, chasing each other. The boy sighs. He never tires of watching Dickon and Mary work in the garden, have fights with sticks for swords, and play tag on the vast lawns. The boy glances a final time at his friends before settling himself more comfortably in his chair and stares out over the calm lake.

When he is with Dickon and Mary, he almost forgets he cannot join them in their playing, that he is confined to his chair. When he is in the garden all a-bloom so beautifully, and the flowers' perfume fills the air, and the robin's song makes Colin want to dance, he forgets he cannot get up and walk and help the earth grow.

Colin's hand balls into a fist; he gently hits the arm of his chair and blinks his eyes rapidly. A wave of frustration washes over him. He will someday walk. He will walk and be able to help Dickon and Mary with the garden. He will get well and be able to skip and run and play tag and have duels with them. He _will_ walk and do all those things, and his father will no longer be ashamed of him. _I shall become well_, he silently promises.

"I win!"

Dickon's voice rouses Colin from his thoughts. Turning around slightly, he sees Mary, who has been running towards him and is only a couple yards from him, turn around sharply to face the advancing Dickon. Colin notices her head is bare, her hair wild and windblown; apparently she lost her hat some time during the chase.

"No, we must continue!" Mary objects, panting. "And I demand you return to me my hat!"

Colin's lips twitch in amusement as he gaze flickers between the girl and the approaching boy. Dickon holds Mary's hat in his hand and swings his stick in the other. His jog slows to a walk. Mary straightens and raises her stick up, ready to resume the fight.

The older boy chuckles as he nears her but does not lift his stick up. Instead he offers Mary her hat as a peace offering. "Your hat," he says, grinning widely.

Colin watches Mary slowly lower her stick and accept the hat from Dickon. Laughing, she drops her stick to put her hat back on properly. Mary turns around and smiles at Colin. Her face is flushed and her eyes sparkle. Colin smiles in return and then glances at Dickon. The boy quietly waits for the girl. His grin has vanished. At first glance it seems as though he is not smiling. But Colin recognizes the faintest upturning of his lips in a wistful, almost nonexistent smile. And his eyes shine with that strange twinkle.

Colin frowns slightly. He has caught Dickon looking at Mary like that a number of times, nearly always when she is occupied and does not see. He cannot put a name to the expression on the older boy's face, but it makes his stomach feel strange and funny. Just like that time Mary and Dickon danced together. Colin swallows hard at the memory.

It had been nearly three weeks ago. Colin was holding the lamb on his lap, gently stroking her, while Dickon and Mary had been working. The robin, after feeding his young, had burst out in joyful song. The three children had all grown still and had listened, spellbound, filled with delight at the song.

Mary had risen from kneeling by a flowerbed and began to dance to the robin's singing, circling round the garden. Her light blue dress had twirled and twirled about her, and her blue hair ribbon had swayed with her hair. She had made a pretty sight.

Dickon had watched her dance about. A bunch of weeds was forgotten in his hand. That was when Colin noticed for the first time the faintest hint of a smile on the boy's face as he tracked the girl. There had been something akin to awe in his expression.

Mary had paused in her dancing and rushed over to Dickon and urged him to dance with her to the robin's song. The boy had climbed to his feet and allowed her to take his hands. Then, the robin gave a great whistle and started a new song. And Mary had led Dickon about the garden in a spirited dance. She had smiled and laughed, caught up in the moment. Dickon had not joined her laughter. Instead he simply smiled down at her in such a way that made Colin feel cold and unhappy. How he had wished he could dance with her!

Now Colin observes the same look on Dickon's face as Mary finishes fixing her hat and picks up her stick. _Would she like it if she saw him looking at her like that?_ he wonders as the duel starts anew. He is relieved as Dickon's familiar grin returns, and he focuses on the duel, the strange moment lost and forgotten. The younger boy frowns as his gaze flickers back and forth between his friends. _Does Mary like Dickon more than me, or does she like us the same? Would she dance with me like she did with him when I can walk?_

Such questions spin in Colin's head. He watches Dickon and Mary closely the rest of the day, his stomach feeling funny and strange.

THE END


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